Squibs
by confuzed
Summary: It is November 1981 and Remus Lupin is alone for the first time in a decade. James, Lilly, and Peter are dead. Sirius is in Azkaban. When he strikes up an unlikely relationship with an over energetic squib Remus learns the art of coping.This is his story.
1. The oddities of the 80's

Disclaimer: I Sadly Don't Own Harry Potter =[

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Sunlight was streaming through a window, highlighting the particles of dust that were floating on the air. The room was silent, save for the labored breathing of its lone occupant who was sleeping fitfully on the well used twin bed. The soft yellow comforter was clenched tightly in his pale, bruised hands as he mentally struggled against an imaginary assailant.

A painful gasp escaped his parched throat as the haggard looking man shot up, eyes wide and fearful as they darted around the room. The panic faded slowly as the realization that he was alone settled in, the fear doubled and coupled with anticipation as he realized he was in a foreign place and did not know how it came to be.

He cautiously threw his legs over the side of the bed, setting his bare feet on the cold wooden floor before trying to stand up. His worn legs trembled, threatening to give out as he steadied himself against the nearest wall. Tired honey eyes surveyed the room meticulously, trying vainly to get his bearings.

The walls were covered in old floral wallpaper, peeling slightly in some places under the weight of time. Several bookcases were placed on either side of the window, holding a copious amount of ancient looking books, had the man been comfortable with his environment he would have been mildly thrilled at the amount of books he could peruse.

Other than the aforementioned items the room was bare, looking like it hadn't been lived in for something close to a decade.

Pushing heavily off the wall the man began to make his way towards the solid looking door, subconsciously reaching for his wand. Panic streaked through his mind as his eyes darted to the robes he was wearing.

They were his, he recognized the patches that had long ago been placed over rips and tears, but his wand was not in his pockets. His heart sped up exponentially, threatening to beat clear out of his chest.

He was alone in a strange place and currently defenseless. Joy.

A deep, calming breath was in order. It would not do for him to over react, which would only ensure the occurrence of mistakes on his behalf. His eyes narrowed in apprehension as he grasp the golden door knob, turning in slowly he pushed the weighty door open a crack, his honey eyes peering cautiously into the hallway.

Three closed doors lined the hallway, the walls were devoid of any decorations and the floor was bare, a stairwell lay ominously at the end of the hall. The house was as silent as a grave, unnerving the man deeply. He was profoundly thankful that the door did not creak as he opened it wide enough for him to slip out into the hall, his feet padded quietly against the floor as his robes rustled with his movements.

It wasn't until he reached the top of the stairs that he let out a breath he was unaware he had been holding. His shaking hand grabbed the banister as he tried to silently make his way down the lengthy stairwell, unfortunately the stairs were not nearly as well cared for as the door hinges.

The man visibly flinched every time the floor boards creaked under his meager weight. Despite the disturbance of silence he could hear no other noises aside from the ones he caused. Another sigh of relief escaped from his tense form as he reached the bottom of the stairs. So far there were no other signs of life, something that was greatly appreciated.

His wary honey eyes scanned the entrance way he found himself standing in. Once again he was faced with three options, the entrance door; an open frame to the right that led to what he guessed was the kitchen, and an open frame on the left that led to a sitting room.

The entrance door was enticing and he dearly wished to walk through it and leave this confusing place behind, but two things were holding him back.

He desperately wanted his wand back, as all wizards would, and he felt a pressing need to get some answers, as per human nature.

Dropping his shoulders in defeat he cast a longing glance towards the door before turning to the right, wandering towards what he thought should be the kitchen. His steps were still very cautious and his eyes were guarded. The discomfort that had built in his chest was not fading and his thoughts were trying vainly to piece together this mystery.

His body went ridged at the entrance of the kitchen for there was another person, blindly going about her day, completely unaware of his presence.

Although this was partly due to the walkman clipped to her belt and headphones secured snuggly around her small head. He vaguely recognized the devise as a muggle music player; which led him to conclude that he had been taken hostage by a muggle, interesting.

The muggle in question was rather short, clothed in the latest muggle fashion: bright blue flats, black leggings underneath an equally bright blue mini skirt, a black tank top with some blue beads around her neck and a blue bow placed in her wavy black hair. He also noticed that she had on fingerless, black, lacy gloves and, what he had hear Lilly call them, 'bangles' on her wrists and painted black nails.

He had yet to see her face, but her whole body was moving about the room in a bizarre form of what he assumed was dancing. If he listened intensely he could barely pick up the sounds coming from her headphones, but the song was indiscernible—not that he really kept up with muggle music.

It was then that she twirled around, moving her hips to the beat of her music and bobbing her head rhythmically. Her face was pale, keeping in trend with every other inch of skin she exposed, but had bright blue eye shadow and heavy black eyeliner. Remus stood, leaning against the door frame waiting for her to open her eyes and notice him.

For some odd reason he no longer felt as though his life were in danger, he did not know that many death eaters that dressed as muggles and danced around their kitchen. Besides the girl looked rather young, maybe 19, and not very strong. He was pretty sure that his 21 year old toned frame could easily over power her if she did indeed turn out to be evil.

When she lazily lifted her eye lids her whole body went stiff and she about fell over, messing up whatever dance move she had in mind as she eyed the man casually watching her make a fool of herself.

She blinked her dark brown eyes rapidly before roughly ripping the headphones off, her face heating up in embarrassment. After a few moments of impersonating a fish she seemed to have composed herself.

She smiled brightly striding over to him with her hand held out. "Hi, I'm Elizabeth Prince. I'm sure you're a little curious as to why you're here, huh?"

Her bubbly voice caught the man off guard; the happiness in it was shocking if not a bit annoying. He stiffly shook her hand, introducing himself only because courtesy dictated he should.

"Remus Lupin. And yes, quite."

She twirled away, almost prancing over to the cabinets above the sink area. One of his eyebrows rose in dismay, she was awfully hyper it would seem.

"Go ahead and have a seat, this will probably take a moment. Do you want anything to drink, eh?"

Remus blinked before shaking his head, might as well be cooperative, other than being overly cheerful she had done nothing to harm him. "Some water would be nice." He mumbled, taking a seat at the dark cheery wood table.

Humming to whatever song she was previously listening to she moved about the kitchen preparing a cup of cocoa for her and water for him. Water was so boring.

After a few moments she sat across from him, sliding him his cup. Another blinding smile was sent his way, did she never stop?

"Well, it was November 12th 1981 and the morning dew was fresh upon the ground." She waved her hands theatrically, trying to physically weave a story before his eyes. When she met his un-amused gaze she huffed and dropped her hands to the table.

"Fine. Be a bore. I found you passed out and cut up the other morning when I was out of for my morning walk. I didn't think the neighbors would appreciate having a naked man lying around their yard; they're kind of prim and proper if you catch my drift. Anyway, I brought you here, put your clothes back on and left you in bed. To be honest I forgot you were here." She said shrugging, still pouting about her attempts of being created being ruined.

Remus's face was slightly scarlet, she had seen him naked. She had _touched_ him while he was naked.

"Oh don't look so mortified. I didn't touch you."

His brow furrowed in confusion. "Then how exactly did you transport me?"

A secretive smile overtook her glossed lips and her eyes twinkled merrily. "Magic." She laughed at his alarmed face.

"Magic isn't real." He said, his voice firm, eyes shifty. His blatant denial made Elizabeth role her eyes at him. "Yes it is. Either it's real or this wand I found belongs to some other naked fellow wandering around."

Her tone was teasing, something that Remus did not really appreciate. Honestly couldn't she speed it up, he didn't want to be here any longer. As if she sensed his impatience she mentally rolled her eyes at him again. "Accio wand." She mumbled darkly, waving a gloved hand in a bizarre pattern for a moment before catching his flying wand.

"Here, now you can leave since you obviously don't want to keep me company." She practically hissed the words at him, refusing to look at him. He blinked at her in surprise. Talk about mood swings much?

He sighed in resignation. No matter how bad of a day he was having she had done him a massive favor and he was being slightly rude to her. "Sorry, I've not been having the best time lately. Waking up in a strange place without my wand hasn't put me in the best of spirits."

His apology seemed to have settled her growing moodiness, bringing out her happiness once more. "'Tis fine, tis fine. Besides I would have taken you home but Alohamora didn't open your door. Also some pretty creepy people were sleuthing around there yesterday." A thought seemed to have dawned on her as her pretty brown eyes widened in alarm as she hopped up and held her hands out defensively.

"Y-you-r-re not a deatheater are you?" the accusation in her trembling voice struck the wrong chord in Remus causing his temper to flare.

"Don't you dare accuse me of that. Deatheater's are despicable people, filthy murderers!" He scoffed at her meanly. "Besides even if I was you don't have a wand and I do."

Her shoulders relaxed a little but her face stayed tense. "I knew I should have just kept walking." Was muttered under her breath. Remus's eyes narrowed in displeasure, things weren't adding up.

"How do you know about magic and deatheaters, you're obviously not a witch?" his voice was harsh as he trained his wand on the poor girl. See if she ever helps a stranger out again, it seems more trouble than it's worth.

To his displeasure she ignored his wand and angry stance, opting instead to sit back in her previously vacated chair. A bored expression had molded her face into the epitome of indifference. "Oh quit being over dramatic. If you'd sit down and talk civilly with me I'll answer all your questions; Although, I should probably just kick you out."

Begrudgingly he sat back down, keeping his wand within easy reach, just in case. "I'd like to point out you were the one being dramatic first." The pout on his face brought a little humor back into her eyes. Boys were so silly.

She shrugged away his comment, choosing instead to look out the window. "I know about magic because I am a squib. Pureblood. But a squib none the less. My family is so inbred I'm lucky I didn't end up insane or disfigured. Although I suppose some could argue against the last one." The humor in her voice let him know she was joking about the disfigurement comment.

He bit his lip in thought. "Squibs can't do magic, how do you? And above that, wandless magic?" Her explanations were only causing more questions.

A bright smile lit her face as she brought her hands in front of her, almost doing jazz hands. "These little babies are my biggest accomplishment." Referring to her lacy black gloves."Besides Squibs are magically challenged people. We can learn magic. It's just a hell of a lot harder for us, which is why we never get accepted into actual wizarding schools." She shot him a look, apparently displeased that he too looked down on squibs. Honestly they had feelings too.

He rose and eyebrow at her questioningly."What exactly are those?" he refused to call them 'babies'. Her bangles clanked noisily as she set her hands back onto the table.

"My wand." She beamed at him, obviously proud of herself. Remus felt a headache coming on. "So let me get this straight. You somehow transfigured your wand into gloves?" At her chipper nod he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ward off the assault on his brain.

"Wandless transfiguration on your wand is practically unheard of." Her bubbly laughter caused him to look at her strangely, what exactly was funny about what he said?

"Honestly, you wizards are so dense sometimes. Wandless transfiguration happens all the time, ever heard of Animagus? I'd even venture to say what you undergo once a month is wandless transfiguration. Just because it's unheard of doesn't mean it's unpracticed." The smile was still firmly planted on her face, although it seemed a bit forced.

"So you know what I am?" Remus gulped nervously. This probably wasn't going to end well. "Yes. My Uncle Leo has Lycanthropy too. That and you being passed out naked after the full moon was kind of a giveaway." Or maybe it would end okay.

"Anyway, I hate to cut this short, but I have to get to work. Boss man doesn't need any more reasons to fire me." She grinned cheekily at him. Maybe she really was bi-polar. He frowned; he still had a lot of questions.

"You've hardly satisfied my thirst for answers." She looked at him oddly, '_thirst for answers'? _Who talked like that nowadays? Shrugging away his oddness she hurriedly put their cups in the sink, they would have to wait until after work.

"Hmm, well that's a shame. But you only live across the street and I don't plan on moving anytime soon, so come over whenever you want. I actually don't mind your moody company, surprising I know. Please lock up on your way out!" and like that she disappeared. Remus blinked at where she was previously standing. Since when could squibs apparate?

Shaking his thoughts loose he stood and went towards the door, what an odd girl. Despite her oddness he got the feeling that he could learn to enjoy her company, with time that is. He knew he desperately needed to make new friends so that he didn't slip back into the depression that led him to this peculiar experience.

Drinking yourself pissed is apparently a very bad thing to do on a full moon night.

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A/N: So what do you guys think? I've had this idea rolling around my head for a while. Please note the date. It is VERY important =]. If you read, please review. They make me smile.


	2. Drunken Expeditions

Disclaimer: I sadly do not own Harry Potter = [

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Once upon a time there was a country named Britain, in this country there were nine different regions which held many different cities. In the region of Kent there was a city named Canterbury. The city named Canterbury was a rather populated and indeed a rather popular city. In this city named Canterbury there was a street called Ersham Road, but it really wasn't a road.

Ersham Road was actually a cul-de-sac, which begs the question of why it was actually called a road. But that is irrelevant at the moment, maybe later it will be important, but until then please ponder it no more.

At the end of Ersham Road there sat an ancient looking two story house, complete with peeling paint, loose shutters, a dead garden, and a broken gate. All in all it was quite the looker…right, well moving on.

In the decrepit house there was a man pacing. He had been pacing for hours. He paced in the kitchen, in his bed room, in his library, and his living room. He almost paced in the bathroom but it was much too small for pacing.

While he was pacing his face was drawn in a frown and his brain was working overtime. There were half drank bottles of booze lying in every room of the house, even the bathroom. But today the man's tongue had not tasted a drop of alcohol, he was too busy pacing.

And we all know what happens if you drink and try to pace…you stumble, and stumbling around did not help the man think. He had tried that a couple days ago, but all he accomplished was imitating a pile of dirty rags tossed on the floor, crumpled and forgotten.

But back to the pacing—every once in a while, about every hour, the man would stop in front of a window and look at the house across the way. The house across the way was possibly older than his, but it was much more cared for. Were it not winter the garden would have been in full bloom, adding a charming aspect. The paint wasn't peeling, it didn't have shutters but if it did they probably wouldn't be loose, and the gait was well oiled and securely hinged.

He was also positive that the house across the street did not have someone pacing in it. He was fairly sure that it was currently empty, its owner having disappeared for the day. To where, he was unsure, but he guessed its occupant had gone to work again, wherever that was.

The man continued to pace well into the night, around nine o'clock. It would appear that the man was a marathon pacer, if such a thing existed. But when the lights in the house across the street came on the man's pacing stopped abruptly.

He stood frozen in front of the window, staring fixedly at the house. The curtains were drawn but they were sheer enough for her silhouette to be seen. She was in the kitchen, not that being in the kitchen was all that important, but that is where she was.

The man's tired honey eyes were narrowed in displeasure. He was fairly sure that the almost woman had lied to him. He had done a little digging on squibs and found that while they did possess some magical tendencies the ones she displayed were far above that of a squib—which means she lied to him.

The man hated being lied to. It made him angry; it made him want to take rash actions. The man thought he might even begin to hate her, if he were allowed to continue on like this anyway.

Sirius had lied to him; he had lied to them all. Sirius lied and betrayed them. Sirius lied and betrayed them and now they were dead. The pacing man harbored a deep hatred for liars and betrayers.

Logically speaking, if the girl lied to him she would eventually betray him. Hey, it happened before and history was prone to repeat itself it seemed. Not that the man had much left to lose.

His pale hands were gripping the window pane tightly, his knuckles turning white with pressure. He could go over there, you know? He could barge in and demand to know why she lied to him, demand to know why Sirius lied to him…not that she knew of Sirius or his betrayal. But all liars were the same, they all had to pay.

He knew he schedule by now, every morning she would go for a walk, regardless of the weather. When she came back from the walk she would disappear in the house for a little while before going out and checking her muggle mailbox.

Some days she would leave the house, driving away in her muggle contraption called a car. Other days she would apparate, he assumed, because the house would become the devoid of life or movement until she returned at night.

At night she would pitter around the kitchen for about twenty minutes before heading into the sitting room for about an hour, and then she would head up to bed. Her bedroom was on the second floor, window facing east.

She lived alone.

He could very easily go over there, demand his answers, and end her miserable existence. But at the same time he could never go through with it. To end an existence seemed so much bigger than the man, he was fairly sure it would swallow him whole, plunging him into a darkness that was all too similar to the darkness that liars and betrayers wallowed in.

The kitchen light flicked off and the house was shrouded in darkness for several seconds before the sitting room light was flipped on. Rays of light spilled past the curtains and out into the winter stricken yard, chasing away some of the shadows that clung to the house.

Every time he caught a glimpse of her face there was a smile firmly in place. It made him sick. What was so wonderful about her life that she felt the need to smile when no one was around?

A sneer distorted his normally attractive face. She was probably smiling because she was theoretically getting away with murder. No one was calling her out on all her lies, on all her betrayals; she was getting a one up on the entire world.

She disgusted him. It revolted him to know that she would smile so cheerfully about such evil actions. Oh what he wouldn't give to wipe that smile off her face.

Oh, but wait, he had nothing left to give because everything he loved and cherished had been stripped away by another's lies. Every last bloody thing that he remotely cared about had been stolen from him. He had been betrayed.

But the betrayal he felt was nothing compared to the betrayal his late friends had experienced. They had truly lost everything, even the things they did not care about. They didn't even have time to know they were betrayed, they only had time to suffer and die.

Perhaps their fate was much easier than his; at least they were at peace. They had no more problems to plague their mind, no more guilt that gnawed at their sanity; they didn't even care about the maggots that were avidly decaying their bodies.

No, they were dead, dead and gone from this world. But they would never be gone from his mind. They would forever haunt him with their cheerful smiles and innocent gazes, their trusting gazes. Their bloody trusting gazes that let them all be deceived and betrayed.

His blood boiled at his thoughts. They left him all alone, all alone surrounded by these murderous liars.

They didn't even have the decency to take him with them, to spare him the pain of a meaningless existence. Not even the liar decided he was worthy of death.

And so here he stayed, existing in a world he no longer cared for, surrounded by people he despised.

A shallow example of the great man he once was. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Yes, he should go over there and do…and do what? A confused look flashed in his tormented eyes before horror overtook his face.

Surely he hadn't been thinking such terrible thoughts; surely his sanity had not slipped that far. But he knew the sad truth.

He was slowly driving himself insane with want for revenge.

Revenge for the horrible turn his life had taken, revenge for the irrevocable fate his friends fell to, revenge against everyone that left him by himself.

With a depressed sigh the man loosened his grip on the hostage window pane. He was pathetic. He was lonely.

He was a pathetic, lonely, miserable man.

And he hated himself for it. He hated her for it; he hated her for offering future company. Telling him he could come over anytime. What lies.

Perhaps he would wait until some ungodly hour of the night and visit her, and when she turns him away he'd expose her lies. Expose her as a liar.

Yes, that sounded like a good plan.

With half crazed eyes he stumbled away from the widow in search of alcohol. He was going to need some liquid courage in order to hold his ground. It was also quite effective for passing the time.

Five hours and two empty bottles of rum later the very drunk man stumbled out of his house, tripping on the cracks in his uncared for sidewalk. He made it across the street without falling, which was a good thing because the likelihood of him standing after a fall was unlikely. The ground becomes increasingly more comfortable when one is smashed.

He squinted his eyes in concentration at the red door in front of him, why was he here again? A few moments of confusion later his brain caught up with his body. Ah, yes, that's why he was here.

With his mission firmly in mind he pounded loudly on the door, as only a drunken man can. He continued pounding on it until it burst open, revealing a wide eyed woman, dressed in an over-sized t-shirt and running shorts.

His fist froze mid swing. Why was he here again? What did this woman have to do with him?

"C-can I help you?" A quizzical look overtook her face as she quirked an eyebrow. He was obviously very plastered. What a wonderful surprise.

The utmost confusion seemed to possess him for a moment, could she help him? "I durn know." Was slurred out as he stared at her blankly.

The woman before him sighed deeply, a pitying look softening her face. "Well, come in Mr. Lupin. We can't have you wandering around the neighborhood smashed out of your mind."

He nodded dumbly, struggling to figure out why he was here…there was a reason…he just couldn't quite grasp it at the moment, it slipped his mind when he saw her startled eyes. He staggered in, using the walls as a brace. When did the room start spinning? Was it doing that a moment ago?

"Who toll ewe ewe coul splin?"

The woman next to him blinked rapidly in surprise, was he yelling at her wall? Yes, yes he was yelling at it…how very odd.

"Now, now, calm down. I'll go find something to sober you up. Go sit in the living room if you can make it." She said dismissively disappearing down the darkened hall.

Remus's brow furrowed in determination, right, to the living room. If only there wasn't three of everything…it made it awfully hard to figure out which floor was the real one. It would also be very helpful if they weren't moving about trying to trip him up, evil floor.

Four steps later and a thud was audibly heard as he found himself inexplicably on the floor. He blinked in surprise before narrowing his eyes in suspicion at the wood beneath him. Surely it was plotting his demise.

Well it was sorely mistaken if it thought he was easily defeated, he would show it. No floor was going to conquer him, besides he could still crawl. Hah!

The sight that greeted Elizabeth when she returned was one that she would remember for years to come.

The attractive, yet totally inebriated, Remus Lupin was crawling slowly towards her couch mumbling death threats to her floor.

Remus was so intent on promising a grizzly death to the floor that he didn't notice her return, so it was with good reason that he flailed wildly the moment she tried to lift him off the floor. After all, it could have been the floor retaliating…

It was only when he knocked her over and she ended up sprawled on the floor next to him did he acknowledge her return. "Wha are ewe doin dowen eere?"

A groan escaped her as she rubbed her sore bum. Bloody drunken neighbors messing up her night. "Here" was practically growled at him as she thrust a sobering potion in his face.

He eyed it with disdain. "I donn wanna." Was all he was able to mumble before a strong hand shoved him over. He stared at her angrily from his position on the floor. What was that for?

But as he opened his mouth to yell at her, probably going to accuse her of being in cahoots with the floor, but a slimy bitter liquid was dumped down his throat. He choked and sputtered as the foul liquid worked its way down to his tummy.

She ignored his murderous gaze, waiting for the point to take effect. It should only take about 10 seconds in total.

9 His eyes blinked rapidly.

8 His head quirked to the side in puzzlement.

7 His brain was quickly unmuddling itself.

6 Elizabeth's lips started to twitch upward.

5 A smile spread across her face.

4 She was struggling to hold in her laughter.

3 Comprehension dawned on Remus.

2 His eyes narrowed in annoyance.

1 Remus Lupin was 100% sober.

Picking himself up from the floor he stiffly offered her a hand. This was embarrassing. "So glad you could join me in the world of the sober." She joked, her voice holding mirth. His face flushed in shame.

"Yes, sorry about all that…" He trailed off lamely, dropping her hand the moment she was up right. His eyes darted around the room uncomfortably. He was such a fool.

She waved off his apology, smiling kindly. Stupid smiles again. "Don't worry about it. Is there a reason you decided to grace me with your presence at…four thirty in the morning?" She asked glancing at the clock.

"I think I was going to accuse you of lying to me." He blurted before thinking, perhaps he wasn't 100% sober after all. The smile dropped off her face. "When have I lied to you?" Her voice almost sounded hurt.

His face twisted into a sneer. "Oh don't play dumb with me, you're no squib. Squibs can't do magic at the level you can. It's impossible." He snarled at her, all the thoughts of betrayal and lies flooding in and over riding his good sense.

Her lips pursed in annoyance at his accusation. "I assure you I am. It's written on my birth certificate, I can show you if you'd like." Her words were as hard as her eyes, the civility of her sentence doing nothing to disguise her dislike towards him.

He snorted rather rudely at her. "And why in Merlin's good name would that be on your birth certificate?" She bristled at his condescending tone. What a little prick.

"Because you inane, pathetic, excuse for a man, I was born in a wizarding hospital, where they immediately know if you're magical or not and put it on your birth certificate." Her teeth were clenched in barely concealed anger. Honestly, where does he get off accusing her of such ridiculous things after barging into her house at the sinful hour four thirty drunk off his butt?

He blinked at her owlishly. They did? He was born in a normal hospital because his mum was muggle and the wizarding world frightened her slightly. She took his silence as defiance rather than confusion.

"I think you should leave Mr. Lupin. You can come back when you're not being a pompous ass." Her face was flushed in anger. Really, why did he have to disturb her so? And on that note, why did his words bother her so much?

Her own family thought she was somewhat of an anomaly; Too magical to be a squib, not magical enough to be a witch. Then again most of her family was in St. Mungo's insane asylum.

A flicker of regret flashed through his tired eyes before they became unreadable and he stormed out of her house, across the street, into his house, slamming the door in a fit of childishness.

A sigh of long suffering escaped Elizabeth as she softly shut her door. Truly she was never going to help another stranger in her life, not if this was the outcome. In retrospect she supposed she was lucky he didn't curse her for being so insulting. He seemed like he had quite the temper.

So in the spirit of a true optimist she counted her blessings as she climbed the stairs. After all, bickering with insane people was nothing new to her.

And in her opinion Mr. Lupin was definitely on the verge of being insane; if not insane then at least horribly moody.

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So what do you guys think? Did I do okay with the conversation parts? Read and Review and Love. Toodles.


	3. Coffee Breaks

A/N: Hello my wonderful readers, here is chapter three, I hoped every had a wonderful set of holidays =]

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or "Don't you want me." by The Human League. Enjoy.

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The bitter sweet aroma of coffee filled the small kitchen as a semi awkward silence settled over the two occupants. In all actuality, the girl was quite oblivious to the tense disposition her early morning partner was emanating.

She was softly humming one of her random muggle songs, only pausing to take sips of her delightfully mocha colored coffee while she read the daily newspaper. Remus too had a newspaper in front of him that he was supposed to be reading, oddly enough the newspaper was being horribly neglected as honey colored eyes inconspicuously studied the teenager sitting across from him.

She was dressed in hideously bright colors again today, from what he could gather she was never taught how to 'blend in'. Neon green and pink bows were placed strategically through her wavy black hair as copious amounts of paint splatter decorated her tight fitting black tank top; her tights were unfortunately bright green, covered by a small black mini skirt. Her face was clean of the heavy make up she generally wore, opting to put it on after their coffee break.

Her shoes were simple black flats, and she once again had those annoyingly loud bangles around her wrists. Her nails were still black as were the lacy finger gloves that adorned her hands. He had yet to see her take them off.

He noted with some amusement that her head started bobbing to her humming as her eyes stayed fixed to her oh so interesting paper. In about five minutes she would start singing aloud, give her another three and she'd be up dancing as she placed her empty cup in the equally empty sink.

So predictable.

"Don't. Don't you want me?" Mumbling she paused long enough to down the rest of her coffee.

"You know I can't believe it when I hear that you won't see me…Don't. Don't you want me?" Her voice was still very soft as she folded the newspaper, before pushing herself up from her seat.

"You know I don't believe you when you say that you don't need me. It's much too late to find when you think you've changed your mind." By now she had reached the dancing point in her morning ritual, her hips would sway back and forth with her self made rhythm as her volume would rise, her head bobbing the entire way.

"You better change it back or we will both be sorry." She continued to sing as she shimmied her way out of the kitchen, completely forgetting about her house guest.

A sigh escaped his lips as he watched her leave. She was undoubtedly the most forgetful person he knew, very naive as well. Honestly, she knew next to nothing about him, very rarely questioned him about anything, and only once did she force information from him.

Likewise, he knew just a little more about her than she knew of him. Not that she would ever withhold information when questioned, in fact she complied very nicely whenever he questioned her about anything, it was more that Remus never asked her any questions and she never volunteered personal information.

For whatever reason.

Their relationship was a tad bit bizarre, to say the least. He had been somewhat forced into their daily ritual about a month ago. It was three days after he had shown up drunk at her house the first time that he once again 'accidentally' found himself wasted and on her doorstep. The next morning she had shown up at his door, two mugs of coffee in hand.

Puzzled by her behavior he refused to touch the beverage lest it was spiked, with what he had no idea but he wasn't keen on taking any chances. She just shrugged his rudeness off and corralled him into the kitchen where she proceeded to sit and read the newspaper. How she knew where his kitchen was he couldn't even hazard a guess.

After he demanded none to politely, 'what the hell she thought she was doing.' She cracked an overly bright, nerve grating smile at him, cheerfully replying that' Since he was so obviously in want of her company she was going to happily oblige, but five a.m. was a little inconvenient and that 9 a.m. was so much more pleasant.'

Despite his glaring at her the entire time and demanding that she leave him in peace, neither moved from the chairs they were setting in. True, he was lonely and every bit of company he could score was well appreciated, but she didn't need to know that.

Besides, the girl was obviously daft if she thought they were anything close to friends. Hell he could hardly be civil to her.

Much to his chagrin she continued to show up every day, regardless of if he open the door when she knocked she would appear in his kitchen forcing him to drink the delicious coffee. She never physically forced him to drink the coffee; all she had to do was pointedly stare at him.

As kind as she was her stares unnerved him and it reminded him of the stares Lilly would give James when he was being unreasonable. Sometimes he would drink it just to escape the thoughts that popped into his head when he was given '_the stare'_. It was still brutally sore to think about his late friends, every time they would haunt him he would go into a fit of rage.

Elizabeth had been witness to more than one of his fits, the first one caught her slightly off guard but the ones that followed elicited no response from her. After a week and a half of their morning meetings at his house she asked if he wouldn't mind coming to hers the next day.

It was the first question she had asked him aside from "how are you this morning?" he had found himself mutely nodding 'yes' before his brain had processed what she had asked. But Remus Lupin was no liar, he made sure of that and reluctantly showed up at her house 9 a.m. sharp.

Most days were spent in silence, some comfortable, some not. It was a couple days after the last full moon that he realized what she was doing. His realizations made him slightly angry at the young girl, despite the fact that she was doing nothing heinous.

Since their morning 'coffee breaks' he had yet to drink himself into a stupor, nor had he worked himself into his paranoid half crazed mind set. How very clever of her. He was quite disgruntled that she thought he needed her help, but said nothing because it was painfully obvious that he did need the human contact.

It also bothered him, mostly late at night, that she never seemed interested in striking up conversations with him. He was a very interesting person and a wonderful conversationalist, thank you very much. Even though he probably would never answer her questions it upset him that she didn't even ask.

Most days ended like today, they would sit together for about thirty minutes before she would get distracted and dance away, because he had honestly never seen her walk away, like a normal person. Given another ten to twenty minutes she would prance back in, all dolled up, shout a goodbye to him, and depending on the day either apparate away or drive away.

Without fail, he was left unattended in her house everyday; he still couldn't quite work out why she would leave him there alone. He chalked it up to her naivety and took full advantage of her trust in him. Recently he had taken to sitting in her living room and reading. It was quickly becoming his escape from reality.

She also had an abundance of books, both wizarding and muggle, that he was interested in perusing. He had yet to make it to the upstairs room that held even more books, but he was content to take his time. Strangely enough he was more at peace in her house than his, which was why he continued to put up with her presence every morning. Or at least that is what he told himself.

Today he was planning on exploring the upstairs a bit; she would be home around two to eat lunch, so he had plenty of time. He had become somewhat obsessive with knowing her schedule, but it did not seem to bother her much. He felt more in control when he knew where she was going to be when.

He also found himself somewhat envious that she had a job, something that society refused to give him. The wizarding world shunned him for being a werewolf, and he couldn't hold a solid job in the muggle world because he was sick too often and the full moon rarely fell on weekends.

And so he spent the majority of his days in the parlor of Elizabeth Prince. Sometimes he would stick around for lunch, but he preferred to leave before then. She didn't seem to care either way, which bothered him more than he would like to admit.

Shaking himself out of his reverie he stood from his seat, placing his empty cup in the sink, and folding his neglected newspaper before leaving it on the table. "Hmm, where to start." He had also taken up the habit of talking to himself, not something he was proud of, but it helped make the silence bearable.

Deciding that it was just best to start with the first door he came across he began his ascent of the stairs. The door was made of the same thick heavy wood as all the other doors, nothing about it was remarkable.

He shifted the door open, peeking in, just in case, but couldn't make out anything. Shoving the door open all the way he stepped into…another hallway. How physically impossible. He stood there for a moment before chalking it up to magic, for it could be nothing else.

Doors of different styles, colors, and texture lined either side of the walls. The hallway was very short, only long enough for six doors to be placed side by side, making twelve in total. Shrugging off his confusion he reached for the closest door, a bright red one made out of wood with a funky looking handle.

He stepped through the door expecting the room he entered to be empty, he was quite surprised when he came face to face with an older, tired looking man. The man's brow furrowed in confusion.

"You're not Lizzy."

Remus shook his head 'no' dumbly, finding his voice he quickly supplied. "I'm her neighbor. Remus Lupin, pleasure to meet you?" he trailed off in a question. His eyes strayed from the man's and quickly took in the room; surely this did not belong to the same house.

The older mans eyes lit up in delight. "Remus! How nice to finally meet you, Lizzy has told me so much about you." His smile was wide as he ushered the confused young man further into what appeared to be another living room.

Remus blinked in puzzlement. "Do I know you?"

The older man let out a hearty chuckle, slapping his hand on Remus's back. "No, no, we've never met. I'm Lizzy's uncle. Leopold Prince, at your service."

Leopold Prince, how very quaint. What was she doing keeping her uncle hidden away using a hallway within a hallway...with what looked like a room that belonged to another house...surely the man who built the house was of questionable sanity...this didn't make anysense.

Leo easily picked up on the confusion in his new found partner's face, chuckling as he explained. "Welcome to my home, it's nice to have company. Lizzy's so busy it's hard for her to keep an old man company."

"Your home? As in a completely different house?" he stuttered, quickly piecing together what must have happened. Stupid magic.

"But of course. All Prince houses are connected, gotta keep family close, ya know?" he was still smiling, clearly ecstatic at the surprise company.

"So where exactly am I, and are all Princes this inviting?" He hadn't meant to say the last part out loud, but this was the second Prince he had met that openly invited them into their house, no questions asked.

What sounded suspiciously like a giggle escaped the older man. "By all means no, had I not known about you from Lizzy rest assured you'd be knocked out cold. Oh, and you're in Southern Wales, Cardiff to be exact. Quite amazing eh?"

Remus gulped, Southern Wales, how very far. He didn't feel like he was 180 some odd miles away from 'Lizzy's' house. In fact that was the most comfortable form of wizarding transportation he had ever experienced. Wizarding transportation tended to be quite uncomfortable despite its convenience.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."He finally conceded. The older man just smiled.

"Come have a sit with me and we can talk."

Several hours later Remus was beginning to feel something akin to his old self, which was quite amazing.

"So how long have you been a werewolf?" Leo questioned. They had been on this topic for sometime. At first Remus was furious, thinking that Elizabeth had given his secret away, but Leo quickly calmed him by telling him that he was acquainted with enough werewolves that he could tell by just looking now.

"Seven years, since I was four." He his voice was soft as he thought back to that terrible day. Leo nodded sympathetically.

"Tough, huh? I've been getting furry for about 23 years now. I hate to tell ya, but it only gets worse with time. After a while the transformations start to make your bones brittle and arthritis sets in. Pain in the bugger." His whole demeanor was very casual, as it had been during the entire conversation.

"Joy, just one more thing to look forward to." Remus smiled wryly causing the older man to chuckle.

"Ya know, Lizzy must be off her rocker, you're quite the funny bloke." Leo gave him another wide smile. Remus cocked his brow in confusion.

"What do you mean?" his voice was quizzical while he stared at the older mans face as if the answers to all of life's problems would be found there. This was quite illogical because there were way too many problems in life and not near enough face.

"She was here just the other day complainin' bout you. Told me she's taken to sitting with you in the morning so you don't show up at her door drunk at night. Said something about you never talking and being a bit rude. But for the life of me, and mind you Lizzy's no liar, I can't see what she's been talking about." Remus flushed in embarrassment, perhaps he had been more than a 'bit' rude.

Leo's smile faded when he saw Remus's reaction. "Come on lad, there's no need to be keepin' harassing Lizzy. She really does mean well…even if she is a bit forgetful." He said softly, obviously disappointed in the treatment his niece was receiving.

"It's not like I mean to be rude to her…well, I suppose that's not entirely true either…It's just…I don't know how to act towards her. I still find it highly unbelievable that she's a squib. I feel like she's hiding stuff." He finished lamely, eyes glued to the floor.

A sigh escaped Leo as his eyes suddenly looked tired and his face took on another ten years. Remus brought his eyes back to the older mans face. "Lizzy probably is hiding things from you. Not that she really tries to, but she has to hide things from me as well." His voice was sad, but Remus's curiosity was peaked.

"Pardon me?"

Leo's grey eyes bore into Remus's honey ones. "Sorry lad, can't let you in on her secrets, and as much as I like ya, family first." Remus's shoulders sagged in disappointment.

"Can you at least tell me if she's actually a squib?" His voice held a note of desperation, which did not go unnoticed by Lizzy's uncle.

"According to the ministry, Lizzy is somewhere in between a witch and a squib. She wasn't quite magical enough to be a successful witch so they stuck her in with the squibs. The only reason she can do magic now is because of her cousin Severus."

"SNAPE?!" Remus all but yelled. Leo gave a hesitant nod. "I was hoping that you weren't _the_ Remus Lupin that he would rant about, but it seemed too unlikely." Leo's eye's held something akin to pity towards Remus.

"How on earth is Snape related to Elizabeth?" Remus's eyes were wide and worried. Leo's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Angeliza Prince, my sister, married a beast of a man named Tobias Snape and brought little Severus into the world. He and Lizzy were so close; he taught her everything he knew."

"Were close?" Remus questioned more to himself than Leo. Luckily the older man answered for him.

"Yeah, Severus cut off connections with Lizzy the first of November, no explanation given. He's been a right git to the poor girl." Leo eyed Remus meaningfully at the last part.

"First of November…the day after Lilly…"Remus couldn't finish his sentence; he was torn between hatred and sorrow. That stupid squid still loved James's Lilly, how repulsive."

Leo nodded knowingly. "I was afraid that was the reason." Remus looked at him in shock. "Now, don't go actin surprised, the whole wizarding world went into mourning at the deaths of James and Lilly Potter. Lizzy knew Lilly quite well too, being so close with Severus and everything. From what I've heard from him, you and two other blokes tortured him endlessly."

Remus only cast his eyes to the floor, somewhat ashamed to have his bad behavior known. "Don't get me wrong, I love my nephew, but he could be quite disagreeable at times. The only one he ever seemed to care about was Lizzy and that Lilly girl. Damned near broke Lizzy's heart when he dropped her like last weeks trash. Shoulda given him a good lashing." Leo said angrily.

Up until that point Remus had been trying hard to avoid talking about his neighbor, but it seemed it wasn't in the cards, for the moment the clock turned to 2 p.m. 'Lizzy' waltzed through the door.

"Lizzy!" the old man cried joyously, standing and giving her a bear hug, all traces of seriousness gone. Laughing she disentangled herself, her eyes dancing with happiness.

"Uncle Leo!" She cried mimicking him, a grin firmly in place on her pretty face. "What are you doing here my dear? I didn't expect to see you for another couple of days." Leo said brightly, pulling Lizzy to sit down in the chair next to Remus.

Remus, for his part had kept silent and merely observed the small reunion. "I presume Mr. Lupin has been treating you kindly?" Her voice was polite but the way she cut her eyes towards him made it clear that if he hadn't treated her uncle kindly there would be consequences.

"Oh, yes, yes. Now quit threatening him. He's been keeping an old man company for most of the day, you should be thanking him." Leo chuckled watching the way his niece and new found friend interacted.

Remus seemed rather defensive at her subtle threat. "So hah!" he said before he could stop himself. What was he 12?

Lizzy's eyebrows shot to her hair line as she blinked at him, barely concealing her amusement. "So hah, indeed." She murmured softly a smile curving the corner of her lips upward.

"So m'dear, what brings you here?" Leo questioned, pulling her calculating gaze from Remus's stiff and embarrassed form.

"Hmm, oh. The door was glowing; I figured I had better check in just in case. I really do have to be getting back." She said sadly, standing from her chair.

"But of course, do come back and visit soon, love." Leo stood to give her another hug, before smiling and walking her towards the door.

"Oh, Mr. Lupin, I know it was unintentional, but you never locked up." A wicked smile twisted her lips up in a rather attractive way as she called over her shoulder. Remus just rolled his eyes, before rising as well.

"I suppose I will follow you out, I've imposed your uncle's company far too much." Elizabeth just shrugged and continued through the door, Leo smiled kindly at him. "You're welcome back anytime you want. I quite like the company."

Remus simply nodded with a small smile on his face as he followed the young woman through the door. Leo shut the door smiling. Ah what is was to be young.

By the time they had made it down stairs Elizabeth could feel his gaze on her, as unnerving as it should have been, she was far to used to him staring at her. She hoped he knew she wasn't oblivious enough to miss the fact that he rarely read his morning paper, opting instead to stare at her.

"I truly hope you treated him well. I have no problem opening my house up to you, you're free to wander wherever you wish, aside from my underwear drawer, but I trust you wouldn't touch that willingly. I only ask that if you do insist on visiting my family, treat them nicely, please. Also, don't go in the yellow or blue door—I've yet to talk to them and they are very likely to hex you if they don't know you." She had stopped walking faced him abruptly, catching him off guard and disrupting his thoughts.

His face scrunched in confusion. It was far beyond his grasp as to why she was so trusting to him. "Why?"

She blinked at him in surprise. "Well, they're my underwear…sharing my books is different than sharing my under garments. Besides you didn't strike me as the transvestite type…" she trailed off looking generally confused.

A small chuckle escaped his lips before he could help it, startling both himself and the young girl before him. She had yet to hear him laugh, it was nice. "Not what I meant at all, I meant why are you so trusting?" bits of amusement were still in his eyes. She had to admit, he was much more enjoyable when he was talking civilly, her uncle sure could work wonders.

A shy smile flitted onto her lips as she flushed red and tore her eyes from him. "Well, you know…I…well. To be honest, I'm not sure…it's selfish really, but I wanted to be friends…and I suppose I was hoping if I helped you, we could be. And if you were out to harm me, you would have by now…"

Remus cocked his head in thought. Flimsy logic at best, but if she knew Snape, perhaps she knew all about him as well. That seemed much more plausible.

"So, you willingly try and befriend someone who 'tortured' your best friend and close cousin?" His voice was cruel as he stared at her, trying to gauge her reaction. He saw her stiffen at his sudden change in tone.

Her eyes flew to his and the anger he saw there surprised him. "Don't play coy with me Mr. Lupin! You can act rude to me all you want, but don't you dare pretend you are a cruel person. Lilly always spoke highly of you, despite the company you kept, and Sev never said that you tortured him, it was Potter and Black he blamed." Somewhere in her rant she had marched to stand in front of him.

A small painted finger poked him in the chest as she continued. "I understand that you think you lost everything, but you need to wake up and smell the damned coffee. Quit moping about waiting to die, its pathetic! Lilly would have been ashamed of you, I see nothing of the wonderful man she spoke so highly of." Her face was red with anger and tears were filling her brown eyes.

Remus was too shocked to be furious as he stared down at the moody girl who was way to close to his person for comfort. His mind was reeling with thoughts, still trying to get used to the idea of Elizabeth Prince, a secluded squib, knowing Lilly and Severus, full fledged witches with somewhat active social lives.

"And don't you dare tell me that I can't speak about them that way. They're dead! Lilly is never coming back! Ever! They killed her, and James, and they're after you next." Tears were streaming from her eyes as she stared defiantly up at him, tones of panic seeping through her voice.

It felt like a damn broke somewhere in Remus's soul, his face drained of color as he looked worriedly at the small woman in front of him. "I'm never going to get to see her smile or laugh again. We're never going to get to dance to music at three a.m. again. They killed Lilly, they killed her. She's dead…she's never coming back…"

Remus gently pulled the hysterical girl into his arms, rocking her back and forth, trying to calm her down as he tried to get a solid grasp on reality. It wasn't working too well, memories of the childhood he shared with James, Sirius, Peter, and Lilly kept flashing before his eyes.

Slowly they both sank to the floor, still clutching to each other as they silently mourned the deaths of their friends, her face pressed against his chest, his buried in her sweet smelling hair.


	4. Pending Insanity

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the characters there in.

AN: This chapter is dedicated to Yewberry Noon. Everyone should thank her for jump starting the updates again =]

Severus Snape had a frown plastered upon his lips as he stared into his dingy mirror, he was currently trying to work up enough nerve and a heartfelt apology for one Ms. Elizabeth Prince, cousin scorned.

About a week ago his uncle had shown up in a flair of angry words for him. Something about 'last weeks trash' one very despised 'Remus Lupin' and an overall message of how much he hurt his closest family member by acting like a sulking, spoiled child.

It can be assumed that his reaction was not that of an enlightened man.

In fact, Severus Snape disregarded the old mans truthful words, yelled right back, and then threw the man out. So in all actuality he should be preparing two apologies, but small steps at a time were most prudent.

A sigh escaped his chapped lips as he tried to mentally psych himself up, it was only Lizzy after all. His best friend from day one, his best pupil for the last decade or so, and more importantly the only person left on earth that he could share his true feelings about a certain deceased redhead about.

The girl he _had_ dumped like last weeks trash. Right, he was screwed. If anything he knew his cousin like the back of his hand and he knew sure as the sky was blue that she was pipping mad.

See, his initial mistake was that he pushed her away in a moment of selfish grief, after all she lost a dear friend as well. But that could have easily been remedied, had he gone back within a couple days and explained himself.

But now...well, by now Lizzy had moved past the shocked hurt into the raging mad, doesn't-give-two bloody-hoots-what-your-reason-was frame of mind. Safe to say that the aforementioned state of mind is general harmful to specific physical areas and specifically harmful to the general mental aspect as well.

The girl had a wicked tongue and a quick mind, and while overall a very decent peace loving girl, Severus had taught her all the dirty and mean spirited tricks in the book. And now he had to go face a girl that was a force to reckon with. Joy.

Not to mention that he had to apologize for being...well, wrong. The whole situation was absurd, how often was he wrong? Not very, thank you.

Shaking the slightly self righteous thoughts from his head he took a deep breath before walking away from his mirror, out his room, into the hallway, and then through the plain door that lead to another hallway full of doors.

He stopped in front of a deep purple door with a simple silver knob. He curled his long pale fingers around the door knob, it was cool to the touch. And with a one slightly terrified deep breath he walked into the lions den.

He paused when he entered the dimly lit hallway on the second flour of Elizabeth's house. His eyes blinked to readjust as his mind registered the fact that she was not in the music room or her bedroom as per usual for 10 o'clock at night.

His eyes quickly located the source which poorly illuminated the hallway. She was in the parlor. He took two steps towards the stairs before his brain registered that she was not alone, judging by the sounds he heard. Bloody good timing he had.

Although, to be fair, if she had stuck to her usual routine everything would have been going according to plan. But Nooo, he wasn't even in front of her and his plans had been derailed.

It was a bad omen, perhaps he should just come back in the morning...

Shaking his head angrily he broadened his shoulders. Come back in the morning, and why should he? He was her best friend from day one, he had every right to be here. Hah, come back in the morning. Plus, he was family, and they do tend to stop by unexpectedly, Princes especially, although generally not him, but that is besides the point at the moment.

Nodding his head, having been reconfirmed he strode purposely down the stairs making as much noise as possible. And as hoped the conversation had stopped in the parlor.

When he reached the end of the stairs a small body collided with his in what was an attempted hug and a shout of "Uncle Leo". We shall call it attempted because one, it was rather rough to be a hug, two it barely lasted for a moment, and three as soon as the moment was up the girl recoiled from his touch.

"Oh, its you." was all she said before turning to walk back into the parlor. "Its not him Remus, false alarm."

Severus had expected something unpleasant, but not that. Ten times out of ten he could count on a hug from Lizzy, he must have really ticked her off...what was he saying, of course he ticked her off. He knew that when he came over here ready to be eaten alive, silly delusions.

With a glare in place he stalked into the brightly lit parlor to see what the two were doing. Having Remus Lupin over was not something he hoped for but it was somewhat anticipated considering Lizzy. She always preferred to have company, and with her personality one could only hold out for so long before they too wanted her company.

The part that bothered him was that she no longer wanted his company...or worse yet, perhaps she no longer needed his company. Not that he could find any redeeming quality in Lupin that would make him even passable for his replacement. But it wasn't his standards they had to pass.

His eyes beheld a peculiar sight, Lupin was on a ladder, placing Christmas ornaments on a rather unnecessarily large Christmas tree and Lizzy was standing on the ground handing him various ornaments.

He quirked an eyebrow, was it that time of year already? Perhaps so.

"Lizzy, I need to talk to you." he cleared his throat, trying to swallow his nerves. Lupin stiffened but did not turn. Apparently he had been told quietly Severus had arrived. Points to him for not starting a fight right off the bat.

"Hmm, that's nice." was her mumbled reply as she bent to pick up a pretty glass blue ornament, inspecting it closely before handing it to a waiting Lupin.

Severus's temper pegged up a bit at her response. Bloody stubborn girl. "I need to apologize." He ground out. He could almost feel his blood boiling. He did not do apologize well, and she was purposely making it difficult.

"Apologize? Hmm, whatever for." Her words were acidic as she turned to stare at him, hand on her hip. "For abandoning me? For ignoring me? For being monumentally selfish? For essentially degrading whatever friendship you had with Lilly by acting like a first class prick? What are you apologizing for Severus, I would really love to know." She ended in a hiss.

Remus mentally winced at her response, sure he was never the biggest Snape fan, but damn. Talk about harsh.

Severus opened his mouth, but nothing came out. How does one respond to such accusations, all of which are true in one shape or form. His jaw snapped shut with an audible click.

Luckily for him his cousin was not done. "Oh, wait. I know. How about this one, being so massively self centered that it took another family member telling you that you hurt me in the worst possible way for you to realize it."

Silence reigned as she shifted her position, away from all the breakable pretty bulbs. "Do any of those ring a bell, even a small one? Or should I hit you and ring the bloody bell myself? We all lost someone that night. Not just you".

She came to stand directly in front of an immobile Severus Snape. "Are you aware that Mr. Lupin lost four of his best mates that night? _Four!_ You lost one. And would you like to know the rich part?" The look she shot him said 'of course you do, so shut up.'

"Mr. Lupin has treated me infinitely better than you have throughout this whole nightmare."

A disgruntled sound came from somewhere in the throat of Remus as he was drug into the fight. Heaven help the poor girl if _he_ was the one that treated her best.

Snape's face was drawn and slightly livid. Of course he was angry, he wanted to scream at his cousin, but what would that solve. He was supposed to be apologizing, although he wasn't doing very well.

"I would prefer we have this conversation in private, Liz." He managed through clenched teeth.

A bitter laugh filled the tense room as Elizabeth cocked her head to the side. "You would, would you? Well that is to bloody bad." she practically snarled.

"I would prefer a cousin who took care of me in a time of need, or at least did not run away. But I got you instead."

Something snapped in Severus dark eyes. "That is enough Elizabeth. You know damn well that I have always been there for you. Even when your mother dearest decided you would be better of dead. You remember that don't you?"

The color had drained from Elizabeth's face, and Remus had wisely stayed silent. After all he was practically a stranger to these people quarreling in front of him.

"Aw yes, of course you remember. After all it was only couple years ago, your eleventh birthday, when you failed to receive an acceptance letter to any wizardry school. If it wasn't for me she would have tortured you to death and you know it. So I do not want any of that shit."

He was huffing by the time he finished, an angry flush had taken up residence in his pale cheeks. "I made one bloody mistake. Granted it was one of the biggest ones possible. But I am here now, apologizing for all of the crap I have put you through this past month or so. You can decide if you will accept it or not. You know where to find me."

And with that and a dramatic flourish of his robe he strode out of the parlor, up the stairs, and into the hallways of doors. He didn't even stop to acknowledge his Uncle Leo who had just stepped through his door.

Leo watched as he slammed his door shut. "Oh my." was all he said before hurrying to find his dear Lizzy.

He walked into the parlor to find Lizzy standing stock still with tears streaming down her face still staring at the spot Severus had stood. Remus was still on the ladder staring in worry at Lizzy, unmoving and most likely unsure of how to handle the situation and the girl.

Not matter, Leo knew how. "Boy, go make some coffee, now." He all but barked, as he quickly put his arms around Lizzy and started walking her to the kitchen table.

"Hey, Baby Doll, whats wrong?" He asked her softly, getting only a sniffle in response. He glanced towards Remus who was currently pouring water into the coffee pot, but all the received was a shrug.

Hell if he knew all their family drama. His and Lizzy's relationship had been much more cordial as of the last break down, but they definitely weren't up late telling each other their deepest darkest secrets. They were more silent companions than avid friends.

"Darling, tell your Uncle Leo whats wrong." He softly coaxed as he sat her down at the table. Another sniffle and then she raised her watery eyes to his. "I was unduly mean, and so was he." One little sob escaped but she seemed to be calming down.

Remus watched the scene from across the room. Is that how she interpreted it? Well, he was impressed, because it was fairly accurate. She was vicious, but Snape was even more so, and it appeared that he was...dare Remus say it...more valid in his anger at her accusal. Flinching, Remus shook the blasphemous thoughts from his head, if Severus was right in his argument that a lifetime of rights could not be discarded because of one monumental mistake...well the implications it held for Sirius...they just weren't something he could handle at the moment.

Betrayal was betrayal, there were no degrees to it, it was just wrong, plain and simple...right?

Right, of course. Focus on the drama in front now please Remus.

He tuned into Elizabeth speaking very rapid and using random hand motions.

"-The day my mom...well, you know that day. He brought it up and it kind of threw me into shock. And I suppose it was all my fault. I know Sev, I know him very well. I don't know, I just wanted to hurt him like he hurt me, even through I knew he would snap. At the moment I didn't care. I mean, yes he was wrong in his recent actions, but he has always, literally always, except for the instance in question, been there for me. And I should have just let him apologize. I do miss him terribly much. I don't know why I have to be such a brat sometimes."

She finished with a huff and a small frown on her face. Remus was still mildly awed at how quickly her moods shifted. Elizabeth Prince is a very volatile almost woman. Leo seemed relatively immune to her moods, perhaps with time Remus would too, but he honestly didn't plan on knowing her long enough to do that. The revelation sent a mild jolt through his body.

Its not like he would be able to spend the rest of his life being silent companions with her, he knew that, he just hadn't really thought about it. It was more than a bit disconcerting.

"Remus, will you be a doll and grab me some headache medicine. It is in the bottle with the yellow label in the master bathroom medicine cabinet. Master bedroom is across the hall from yours. I can't remember the name of it right now." Elizabeth pleaded with her eyes closed and fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

Remus quietly agreed before wandering up stairs. He wondered why she didn't just _accio_ it but she did look pretty drained and if magic was harder for squibs it would make sense that she didn't have the energy. Leo did move rather slow with a noticeable limp, so it would make sense that Remus was sent.

Happy with his rationalization he found himself standing in front of the door adjacent to the room with peeling yellow wallpaper. He assumed when she said his room, she meant the one he woke up in. But knowing her perhaps she had mentally moved him in, who knew with that girl.

The door opened quietly and he quickly turned the lights on. He made his way through her meticulously neat bedroom across to the open bath room door, his eyes trying to observe everything, he had not made it any further in his exploration of the upstairs since his encounter with Leopold Prince.

He entered the ridiculously clean bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet only to stop short. It was filled to the brim with dozens of different medicines and potions. Concern immediately shot through his nervous system. The majority of the were prescription, and from what he could tell it was a very unhealthy balance of muggle and wizarding ailments. It was suddenly very clear why she did not just _accio_ medicine, she would have been bombarded, possibly to death, with bottles and potions.

Picking up the biggest one he found it to be a bottle of high dosage sleeping pills, next to it was a sleeping potion. A quick perusal identified the majority of them as sleeping aids. A few were anxiety and mood stabilizers, not that the last one really surprised him. Hastily grabbing the muggle over the counter headache medicine he slammed the cabinet shut and rushed out of her room, turning the lights out with a whispered spell.

It is always unnerving when the vague vibes of something being off kilter become embolden in heavy black and white words and numbers. Vague is nonabrasive and passive, we like that. Black and white is very aggressive and abrasive and the transition between the two is always disorienting, we aren't as big of fans of this, obviously.

The look on his face when he practically threw the medicine at her like it was snake was no surprise to her. But honestly Elizabeth Prince did not care. She would care in the morning that her pending insanity was bothering her tentative friendship with Remus.

Leo quietly observed the interaction, watching as the foundation of the almost friendship literally shifted before his tired, old eyes. It was bound to happen eventually, Elizabeth Prince was ill, and from personal experience, Leo knew that illness only stay hidden for a very short, sweet, amount of time.

It was just disheartening that Remus, who also suffered an illness was so shook by hers. But perhaps it is because she constantly acts as though she is relatively normal, being blindsided has never really been a position known for its accepting qualities.

With a world weary sigh, Lizzy popped the top of with expertise and dry swallowed four pills. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath. Her eyes opened reluctantly and she shifted them between the two men standing in her kitchen.

"I apologize for the ruined night and all the drama, perhaps we can attempt this some other night sans the fighting and crying. Right now, I am going to go lay down." She hoisted her self from the table, leaving the medicine bottle where it set.

Leo gave her a comforting smile and Remus, well, Remus said something stupid.

"What about the tree?" He blurted before his brain could filter it out. He was ready to smack himself. Honestly, who cares about the tree?

Elizabeth seemed to know what he was thinking because a small smirk quirked her lips up, and with a somewhat hypnotic motion she waved her hands. "The tree is done now Mr. Lupin, you can rest easy".

Without further comment she walked out of the kitchen, but paused that bottom of the stairs. "You both know where the door and extra beds are. I do not care either way. Goodnight." She tossed over her shoulder before continuing on her ascension of the stairs.

Remus sat heavily across from Leo and said "I think I need a drink". Leo laughed in agreement.

"Come on boy, lets leave Lizzy be, I have some stiff stuff at my house and an extra bed to boot."

That night one person spent the night pondering the recent events, the other spent the night fretting over the future, another one spent the night drowning in the past, and the last one spent the night trying to puzzle out where to go from here.

It is anyone's guess to who did what.

AN: Soo. What do you think? I am sure it was not worth the almost year wait, but who knows, words are powerful things. Review if you would like, it is not even remotely necessary, but it is efficient motivation.


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